Airbnb Confidentially Files For IPO As Global Travel Sees Recovery

On Wednesday, Airbnb announced in a statement that it had submitted confidential paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The size and price range for the offering haven't been set yet, the company said.

While Airbnb is one of the most anticipated stock listings this year, its initial plans to launch IPO on 31 March 2020 was put on hold after the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic, that caused borders to close and flight operations halted, left the company with more than $1 billion in cancellations.

The short term rental service company's revenue took a hit in the June-ended quarter and fell to $335 million, according to a Bloomberg report citing sources, which is more than $1 billion less than the same period last year.

Amid the pandemic, Airbnb had said that more than 80 percent of its bookings for short-term rentals for the first half of April were cancelled, costing the company more than $1 billion dollars. The company had let go 25 percent of its 1,900 employees in May to meet costs.

However, there have been signs of recovery in the sector as the number of bookings were off 30 percent in June from a year earlier, the Bloomberg report said, compared with a 70 percent year-over-year decline seen in May.

Airbnb was recently valued at $18 billion, down from a 2017 valuation of $31 billion.

Airbnb said its IPO would take place after the US-SEC completes its review, subject to market and other conditions.